Story Workshop takes Covid jabs to Phalombe

T

he Story Workshop Education Trust has encouraged people in Phalombe to get vaccinated against the Covid-19 to boost their immunity.

The trust, with funding from GIZ, ran a Covid-19 vaccination express campaign in the district for a month and reached out to 900 people.

The campaign comes at a time people continue to shun Covid-19 vaccination in the district due to misconceptions and myths surrounding the pandemic. 

Speaking at the end of the exercise on Wednesday, The Story Workshop projects manager Ambele Gogwe said the Ministry of Health identified a communication gap in the fight against Covid-19 pandemic.

She said: “Therefore, we came in to fill up that gap. Our role was to mobilise people to get the jabs. During the campaign, we tackled misinformation and myths surrounding Covid-19 vaccination.

“We are optimistic that the collaboration with the ministry will continue.”

She said they also encouraged people not to relax Covid-19 preventive measures, including washing hands with soap regularly and observing social distancing.

Phalombe District director of health and social services Samuel Sibakwe commended The Story Workshop for the campaign.

He attributed the success to the right information about Covid-19 vaccination.

“Vaccinating 900 people within two weeks is encouraging because we have been struggling to get more people to get  vaccinated,” said Sibakwe.

John Mahasua from Traditional Authority  Nazombe in the district said he got his jab after learning that it has not effect on his body.

“At first, I was afraid of getting Covid-19 vaccination because I believed that it can affect my reproductive system,” he said.

The district has, so far, vaccinated about 13 701 people since March 2020.